Hello all.I am currently trying to build some muscle and I am incredibly skinny. I have been going to the gym for 3 months and I have noticed my arms have gotten a little bigger and have not noticed much anywhere else. I have to been trying hard to get good abs but no luck.Also a bit depressed about my boney knees, when i am at boxing class I wear joggers to hide them.I spent about an hour /hour half at the gym at least 4times a week and at least 3 hours a week doing martial arts.I am 5'11 and 70kg

At the gym, in an hour and a half I do:1.5 miles on the tread mill in about 11 mins5 lots of 5 at 60kg on the leg extension.5 lots of 15 on the abs machine at 50kg (where you sit forward pushing down the weights)5 lots 5 on the peck deck machine at 65 kg100 sits ups on an incline.then I lift 30kg plus the weight of the bar (about 20kg maybe) with the free weights about 5 lots of 6

I have toast for break fastRice and vegan sausages before gymthen a weight gain shake after workoutthen beans on toast for lunchand spaghetti bolognese for dinnerthen another protien shake before bed.

So per day you are doing:2 ab exercisesone chest exerciseone leg exercise and a 30kg + bar of some sort of exercise?

Not sure if you do those every day that you work out... but that is what it sounds like you are saying.

If your goal is to gain mass... you will definitely want to focus more on the 5 exercises that work your biggest muscles: squat, deadlift, chest press, pullup, and shoulder press. Your abs will get worked when doing these, as you need to use them as supporting muscle for all of these moves. You can throw in a bit of ab work and other minor muscle work after you work out your major muscles if it feels important to you - ie. to balance things out and avoid injury, but I don't think at the beginning the accessory muscles should be your main concern.

Your muscle needs time to recover so I would not recommend working any one major muscle group more than 2x per week.

Your diet does not look so bad to me, but hopefully you are including fruits and vegetables in there too. Especially leafy greens... for iron. You absolutely need iron to support muscle growth. If you find it tough to eat salad, pre-washed spinach can easily be thrown into your shakes.. it might change the colour a bit, but you won't taste it. Apparently results in the gym are more dependent on diet so make sure to get all the nutrients you need.. best sources are always whole foods.

Good luck!

If it's important to you, you'll find a way. If it isn't, you'll find an excuse.

Thanks, for the reply.I've been going 5 sets of 20 reps on an ab crunch machine set to 50kg every time I go to the gym.150 - 200 sit upsand about 3 sets of 15 of ab pull upsand i do these nearly every day

and yes, stcalico, I do those exercises everyday at the gym. You think my diet is ok? I do eat veg but not everyday. Do you think I am eating enough food to get bigger?

It would be very hard to advise on that - Your best bet is to keep a log so that if what your are doing is not working, you are able to appropriately adjust. If you are getting stronger and gaining weight, then it is enough. Just be careful not to gain too much weight - that would be an indicator that you are gaining more fat than muscle. I'm not a trainer, but I think you should be happy with a 1 pound gain per month. Progress might be slow... but as long as there is progress, I think that's good.

If it's important to you, you'll find a way. If it isn't, you'll find an excuse.

I have to agree with stcalico - apply much more focus to the big, multi-joint lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift, military/shoulder press). I've been powerlifting since 2010 as a vegetarian and for about a year as a vegan - you can get strong and build mass (I'm 165cm at 86Kg and deadift 175Kg). I do think you need to eat more, much more. Add salads with avocado, nuts, and seeds. Mixed legumes with brown rice and then more brown rice with a side of brown rice. You can also add in other grains with mixed veggies (quinoa, cous cous, etc.) - liquified muscles need fuel to recover and grow. Also, I recommend drinking at least 4L of water a day, and get 7-9 hours of sleep EVERY NIGHT!

For the big lifts I work 5x5 at a given weight expecting not to make them all. As soon as I make all five sets, increase the weight 2.5Kg for Bench and 5Kg for deads/squats. Ancillary work I do in 3x10 circuits.

Also, every fourth week - deload. Cut your weights by 50%, focus on form and give your body a break. Constant increase is a recipe for injury and injury means no training.

Sadly the power community is full of a lot of idiot meat heads with bad ideas and old stigmas. Keep it simple to keep it effective - make it complex to make it profitable.

I have a similar body type to you, and have been able to put on almost 15 lbs over the past few months when only really focusing on what I am eating for the past 2 months.

Lift heavy! Lots of sets / lots of exercises. Most of my tips have already been suggested above, but one thing I noticed that really helps with weight gain is oatmeal first thing in the morning. 1 cup of raw oats with agave , fruits, brown sugar, whatever you want.

I have a similar breakfast and I agree that it helps with recovery and gaining mass. Due to my schedule the timing varies, but typically, I have a 20g protein shake upon rising with some blend of juiced fruits to get fuel to my system immediately. After my commute, I hit the ceareal:

1.5 cups of this mixture topped with a sliced banana, 30g walnuts, 25g raisins, 20g agave or similar, a few grams of ground flax seed, chia seeds, and a bit of cinnamon to reduce the GI spike. Top with almond or rice milk - good to go.

I mix a big tub of the grains (enough for about two weeks) and pre-portion a weeks worth with all the toppings (excluding banana, and agave) and pop them in the fridge due to the flax.

This is some serious get you going fuel that also tastes fantastic. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I'd also be currious to hear ideas to improve or create a variation of this recipe.

reverend27 wrote:I have a similar breakfast and I agree that it helps with recovery and gaining mass. Due to my schedule the timing varies, but typically, I have a 20g protein shake upon rising with some blend of juiced fruits to get fuel to my system immediately. After my commute, I hit the ceareal:

1.5 cups of this mixture topped with a sliced banana, 30g walnuts, 25g raisins, 20g agave or similar, a few grams of ground flax seed, chia seeds, and a bit of cinnamon to reduce the GI spike. Top with almond or rice milk - good to go.

I mix a big tub of the grains (enough for about two weeks) and pre-portion a weeks worth with all the toppings (excluding banana, and agave) and pop them in the fridge due to the flax.

This is some serious get you going fuel that also tastes fantastic. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I'd also be currious to hear ideas to improve or create a variation of this recipe.